Month: October 2016

Thursday morning, and our biggest decision is should we stay here another day or head on down to Kayenta, Arizona. We choose to make the 135 mile move to a new camp.

There are two factors guiding this move. Both of them based on the upcoming weekend. Monument Valley in our destination in Kayenta. The area where we are and where we are going are popular tourist destinations.

1. Our camp here near Canyonland, is 20 feet off a gravel road. The road was well traveled and every time a vehicle went by they raised a cloud of dust. Weekend traffic would only get worse.

2. Besides the draw of the monuments in The valley near Kayenta, that destination had a special draw for me. My brother and sister-in-law, John and Robin, would be in Kayenta on Sunday. They flew out from their home in Florida for a post-retirement trip of their own. They are not campers, so much of there trip is prebooked reservations. We just found campgrounds around where they were staying so we could share a few days siteseeing with them.

Our more frugal form of travel is guided by free and low cost camp grounds mostly found in a thick book we carry by the same name. Between that book and our set of Benchmark Atlases, we are prepared to find inexpensive places to camp that don’t rely on Walmart parking lots.

Our destination near Kayenta is at the Navajo Nantional Monument in Shonto, Arizona. They have two campgrounds that are free ( they do appreciate a donation at the visitors center).

Camping is limited to 5 days. We chose to skip the draw of flush toilets in more crowded Sunset Set view campground and opt for the solitude of the Canyon View. We settle in for five days and wait for John and Robin’s arrival on Sunday.